Olympus
by dbluewillow
Summary: The new captain needs a new team. An elite spec ops unit's not-so-humble origins. On indefinite hiatus. I'll come back to this if I feel up for it.
1. Chapter 1

**Sunday, 8:30 a.m.  
** **Capitol Building, Inkopolis**

Commander Cuttlefish—no, it was _Captain_ Cuttlefish, now, scanned her eyes over the rogues' gallery gathered in front of her. She would have preferred to have her unwaveringly loyal soldiers instead of this ragtag bunch, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Mere soldiers would not be enough for the job.

"Are we ready, Marie?" the captain's assistant whispered. Captain Marie Cuttlefish nodded and took her seat at the back of the room while her assistant dimmed the ceiling lights. The projector flared to life, and the wall at the head of the conference room lit up. On it was a slideshow picturing the details of their upcoming mission. What a way to celebrate her promotion, Cuttlefish thought to herself, getting thrown back out into the wild with the deadliest people in the world.

The captain took a chance to examine her team. To her immediate right was Rin Cho Hyalus, sniper for hire. The girl purportedly had mirrors behind her eyes and 360-degree vision. Cuttlefish doubted it, but the sniper's claim to fame was her one-in-a-million shot that had taken out a corrupt Octarian businessman, ricocheted through his head and into all four of his bodyguards, and then flown right back through the window to where Hyalus had taken the shot from. An impossibly clean kill with no living witnesses and no bullet to find. Cuttlefish had studied the surveillance footage, the only remaining evidence of Hyalus's involvement in the assassination, for hours before concluding that the girl was the real deal. Rin Cho Hyalus was the best shooter in the business. She would do the team's spotting.

Next to Hyalus was Tim Ingila, a twice-convicted hacker extraordinaire who could clean out banks without leaving a trace. When the Inkopolis Department of Protection and Counterterrorism finally caught wind of him, they decided to give him a job, which Cuttlefish herself found incredibly risky and stupid. She couldn't deny Ingila's skills, however. Few were better with technology than this portly DPC scumbag, despite Ingila's relatively old age, so he was chosen to direct logistics for this particular operation.

Further down the table sat Cameron "Eight" Elias, the only Octoling present. Eight was something of a wildcard. The captain knew next to nothing about the redhead, except that she was trained by the Octarian military and that she had killed the terrorist Commander Tartar over a decade ago. When the captain's cousin Callie Cuttlefish and the DPC agent Natalie Tilus had both vouched for Eight, Cuttlefish immediately put her on the team. Eight seemed agreeable enough, and Cuttlefish was curious to find out what made this Octoling enforcer so special.

And sitting in the least tactically sound position was Natalie Tilus, the unassumingly short woman in her late twenties. Cuttlefish had worked with her for a brief few years in the NSS, but she had never been able to get a good read on the orange-haired operative. Cuttlefish was pretty sure that the former Agent 3 was simply insane. And invincible. Since her early years in the NSS, Tilus had shown a knack for ruthless efficiency. She was a fast, reckless, and daring operative who did everything without getting any credit or public recognition. One time, she broke out of a holding cell by herself and killed a dozen armed guards, then hiked across Octo Canyon killing several terrorists before finally passing out from exhaustion. Nothing ever fazed her. Tilus clearly demonstrated no fear at the moment, sitting in her current spot near the head of the table, back turned to the people that Cuttlefish herself barely trusted. The captain wondered what even motivated the tiny DPC woman. Nothing about Tilus made any sense. And she always insisted on using her old, cruddy pistol, too. How she managed to get anything done with that piece of shit gun was beyond Cuttlefish.

Finally, there was Cole Leoidea, Marie Cuttlefish's protege and the one person she had a handle on. Leoidea—or Agent 4, as Cuttlefish knew him by, had taken Cuttlefish's position as head of the clandestine service after she had departed for a career in the navy. The thirty-year-old national hero had gotten his feet wet in operations, logistics, oyster farming, administration, and even politics before finally settling back into what he did best: fieldwork. Leoidea was a natural—a brilliant, tactical mind backed by a body with the physical strength of ten regular men. Cuttlefish could count on the big guy to both follow her orders and keep Tilus in check. Leoidea and Tilus had grown up in the same town, and the two of them had some history together. If they wouldn't fight for the captain, then at least they would fight for each other.

The mission overview went by without incident. The captain tried to cover as many details as possible, barring how much everyone was getting paid. The team members, for their part, had kept their eyes forward and mouths shut. She hoped that they were as serious about this as they looked.

"With all due respect, ma'am, why are _you_ in charge of this?" Leoidea asked after several seconds of silence. "A naval commander like yerself needn't worry 'bout something deep as this mess."

Cuttlefish smiled at her old friend, staying in her chair. This was a question she had prepared for, one that she had needed to answer for herself, first. "Because I asked for it. It's about time I do something that actually makes a difference."

Cole Leoidea squinted his eyes at her, seemingly understanding what she said but not really happy with the answer. He scoffed to himself and crossed his arms, looking away from his former mentor.

Cuttlefish would not tolerate any insubordination. Not from Leoidea, and _especially_ not on day one. "And that's _Captain_ Cuttlefish, to you, Leoidea," she spoke.

Leoidea and Tilus both stiffened. Hyalus stifled a giggle, but the rest of the room remained quiet.

"No more questions? Then you're dismissed. Meet at the designated area, ten hundred on the dot."

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* * *

 **Puns explained, if anyone cares:**

Rin Cho Hyalus: "Rhynchohyalus natalensis, the Glasshead barreleye, is a species of barreleye found in oceans around the world at depths from 247 to 549 metres (810 to 1,801 ft). This species grows to a length of 16 centimetres (6.3 in) SL. It and the brownsnout spookfish are the only vertebrates known to employ mirrors, in addition to lenses, to focus the images in its eyes." —Wikipedia

Tim Ingila: "The Timingilam is a huge aquatic creature that can swallow whole whales in one bite, as written about in the ancient historical text, Mahabharata (Vana Parva 168.3). It is also mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam (12.9.16), Ramayana (Yuddha-kanda 4.114), Susruta Samhita (Ch.45), and Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya-lila 13.142)." —Wikipedia

Cammy Elias: "Camellia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. White camellias became a symbol of New Zealand women's right to vote and feature on the country's ten-dollar note." —Wikipedia

Nat Tilus: "The nautilus (from the Latin form of the original Ancient Greek: ναυτίλος, 'sailor') is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae, the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina." —Wikipedia

Cole Leoidea: "Subclass Coleoidea, or Dibranchiata, is the grouping of cephalopods containing all the various taxa popularly thought of as 'soft-bodied' or 'shell-less,' i.e., octopus, squid and cuttlefish." —Wikipedia


	2. Chapter 2

**Sunday, 8:31 a.m.  
** **Capitol Building, Inkopolis**

Rin Cho Hyalus listened intently to the presentation, memorizing as much of it as possible. Her new employer was very thorough. Classic navy training at work, here. This was a clean job for clean money for once, too. Kind of. Not really. Whatever, she'd done much worse before.

As much as Hyalus wanted to turn around and steal a glance at her boss, she knew how that would look. Like she had to watch her back. Like she wasn't disciplined or trusting enough. But fuckin' hey, Hyalus thought to herself, she was working for _Marie Cuttlefish_. Her childhood hero. Marie had always been her favorite artist, and Hyalus used to own a physical copy of every single Squid Sisters album. Their songs, especially Marie's, had connected with the young Rin in a way that nothing else ever did. Her life ended up going down a very different path, of course, and Marie left the music industry. But as fate would have it, Rin's path ultimately crossed with Cuttlefish's again years later. This was the work of the divines.

Apparently, the divines also saw fit to place Tim Ingila right next to her. She scowled when she thought of the chubby nerd—he was nothing more than a thief. A stupid, dumb, petty thief. Whereas Hyalus dodged the law to expedite justice, Ingila ducked the red tape to line his own coffers. He stole for himself, and he didn't care who he stole from. He was a big asshole, and he smelled like one, too. Hyalus would have liked to put a bullet between his eyes. Perhaps she'd do exactly that after they were done with all of this.

There was also the Octoling at the far end of the table. Hyalus could tell she was Octarian military by the way she sat upright and rigid. Pretty soft-spoken for someone in the military, with a slight accent to boot. Not someone Hyalus needed to mess with, yet.

And then there were the two goody two-shoes of Inkopolis, the heroes, the agents. She knew who they were. Most people in this line of work did. You fucked with the wrong people, and those agents would slit your throat in the middle of the night. Well, Tilus would, at least. That freak of nature had more blood on her hands than everyone else in the room put together. She was like a trained animal that Inkopolis sicced on anyone who misbehaved, and she never failed. The man next to Tilus was another story, though. Cole Leoidea was the government's poster child, their level-headed, crowd-pleasing gentle giant who everyone loved. He was big, strong, and handsome. It was a shame that someone like him was stuck with the crazy assassin bitch, Hyalus thought to herself. Leoidea could do way better than that.

Hyalus let her eyes trace the contours of his broad shoulders, going down his thick, muscular arms to his seated butt. He had a pretty face, too, with just the right touch of well-worn ruggedness. Fuck, Leoidea really was handsome.

Just because there's a goalie doesn't mean you can't score, Hyalus decided.

 **¤~§~¤~§~¤~§~¤**

Tim Ingila crossed his left foot over his right knee, eyes glazing over in boredom. He already saw this stuff. He had planned out most of it with the captain in the first place. That's how it was when you worked with hired muscle, though. Your goons can't read your mind, and even if they could, they probably wouldn't be able to understand anything. For a plan to go active, you have to communicate the details to the brutes who actually do the dirty work. Communication was an art in and of itself, an essential part of good leadership.

This op wasn't anything special. Ingila would have to provide logistical support on the frontlines, which was potentially dangerous, but it wasn't like anyone expected the DPC computer wizard to shoot a gun. Besides, Ingila had few doubts regarding Cuttlefish's precision strike team. These goons were the good kind of goons. Hyalus, Eight, Tilus, Leoidea, and the captain herself—this was nearly a perfect lineup. He wasn't totally convinced about bringing Ms. Eight aboard, but Octarian military types tended to be obedient good girls. And this one, in particular, owed the captain a few favors. That, or the Octarian military's director owed the captain a few favors. All the same, it meant that Eight would cause no problems. The Octarians were honorable like that.

A big payday was coming, Ingila reminded himself. Until then, he was surrounded by fit, young ladies with nice bodies. Life could be worse.

 **¤~§~¤~§~¤~§~¤**

Eight sat perfectly still, taking in the mission briefing while examining the captain's handpicked crew at the same time. Inkopolis had quite the colorful cast of characters, reflecting its two-faced nature. On one hand, the city championed leisure, culture, and freedom. It was a supposed bastion of enlightenment, a beacon of hope for civilized society. On the other hand, it employed the most devious, underhanded tactics to maintain stability. The city of Inkopolis would pay any price for peace, no matter how high. They played dirty under the table and fooled their citizens into a false sense of security in order to keep them complacent. What was the point of even making rules if you didn't follow them yourself?

This wasn't Eight's first time in the city, and it certainly wouldn't be her last. What she wouldn't give to go back to Octo Canyon right now—home was a dump, but it was an honest dump. The Octarians understood where they stood on the world stage, which kept them humble. And being humble drove them to improve themselves. Their government was the little engine that could, chugging along with all of its might and trying its hardest to change the ravaged, war-torn nation into a respectable place. The Canyon was honest. Inkopolis was not. The city was rotten to the core. Peel back one layer of gilding, and the corruption practically wafted over you.

For now, she'd carry out the director's orders: listen to Marie and do what she says. Eight left the strategizing to Director Callie Cuttlefish back at Cephalon HQ, because Director Callie Cuttlefish was good at it. Eight's job was to follow orders, not question them.

 **¤~§~¤~§~¤~§~¤**

Natalie Tilus bit her fingernails. Another week, another job. If she got to kill some assholes, then the world would be a better place. Simple.

 **¤~§~¤~§~¤~§~¤**

Cole Leoidea nodded to himself. Cuttlefish's plan was airtight. He was no stranger to undercover work, but he definitely wouldn't have trusted anyone else at the helm. Going into the field with these… _unique_ individuals was not normally his style. He did find it a little strange that Marie had asked him of all people to come in, but he suspected that he was mostly here to back up Tilus. Leoidea didn't doubt her skill, but he did doubt her ability to follow orders. Nat had a rebellious streak, and only he could keep her straight sometimes. No doubt Cuttlefish thought the exact same thing.

What he found stranger, however, was the fact that Marie was leading this at all. Leoidea thought she had abandoned clandestine operations and joined the navy to do something more stable. And yet, here she was, a commissioned officer hiring private contractors to quietly kill people. She was risking her job. Maybe her meteoric rise made her think less of the navy. Maybe she thought her job was too easy—she had jumped several ranks in an incredibly short span of time. She did make the navy look pretty easy.

"Any questions?" Cuttlefish asked.

Without raising his hand or even turning to face the woman in the back, he asked, "With all due respect, ma'am, why are _you_ in charge of this? A naval commander like yerself needn't worry 'bout something deep as this mess."

"Because I asked for it. It's about time I do something that actually makes a difference."

Leoidea finally looked at the woman who had taught him so much. He narrowed his eyes, trying to think of something to say. He wanted to ask her if murdering people was still her idea of making a difference, but he held his tongue. Cuttlefish could believe what she wanted to believe, he decided, scoffing to himself. Honestly, she should have just left ops to the ops people.

"And that's _Captain_ Cuttlefish, to you, Leoidea," Marie finished, a touch of anger in her voice.

Leoidea shuddered. Tilus, sitting right next to him, also stiffened up. Did Cuttlefish _really_ just say that? Holy mackerel, the high horse upon which this woman was riding. Did she really just steal her late grandfather's line? The one he used to provoke new recruits? Leoidea had his disagreements with the late Honorary Admiral of the Fleet Craig Cuttlefish, but at least he respected him! He looked over at Tilus, and she shook her head as if to say, _Please don't._ But Leoidea was indignant. Marie had crossed a line. The navy must have inflated her ego too much.

He suddenly found himself questioning the wisdom of following someone so power-drunk. Maybe Marie Cuttlefish wasn't the best person to be betting his life on.

"No more questions?" the commander—no, captain, asked.

It took Leoidea everything to keep his mouth shut.

"Then you're dismissed. Meet at the designated area, ten hundred on the dot," she finished.

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End file.
